Hi everyone this is savvy psychologist I'm Dr Ellen Hentrichson and every week I'll help you

meet life's challenges with evidence-based research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

Okay, what makes you feel insecure besides trying on swimwear under fluorescent lighting?

Well, surprise, the culprit may be your very own mind.

There's that old saying, the mind makes a wonderful servant, but a terrible

master. And if you're feeling insecure about yourself, your relationship, or your life, the three

toxic thinking habits we'll talk about today may be

mastering your mind. Now psychologists call these toxic habits cognitive

distortions, which is just a technical way of saying lies we tell ourselves.

But they're tricky because on the surface they seem accurate and more importantly

they feel accurate and that's the problem cognitive distortions keep

us feeling stupid boring inadequate or otherwise insecure. Now it's really important to note that we all make these thinking mistakes from time to time.

It's part of being human.

But when we truly start to believe them or we over rely on them,

that's when we feel as insecure as a Wi-Fi network without a password.

All right, so let's get into them.

Toxic thinking habit number one is emotional reasoning.

So this toxic habit mistakes feelings for reality.

If you feel guilty, it must be your fault. If you feel hopeless, there must be no way out. If you feel

anxious, something bad is about to happen. But emotional reasoning makes us feel the most insecure when it extends to our

relationships, such as, because I feel jealous, it proves you're cheating on me. Or I feel vulnerable we must be about to break up

then those thoughts spiral and turn into a fight your partner never saw coming

...